Chapter 375 – Frostbringer

Chapter 375 The Frostbringer

Tirian stood on the towering bridge of the Sea Mist, his eyes gazing through the wide windows at the vast ocean in the distance.

That had once been the direction of Dagger Island – but now all that was left there was a wide expanse of sea, and a few scout boats still searching in vain for clues.

Dagger Island had disappeared for such a long time, yet neither the Frost People nor the Sea Mist Fleet had been able to find anything in these waters.

The great pirate sighed and turned to leave the bridge, then stepped into his captain’s room – on the desk in the captain’s room was an antique oval mirror, which looked out of place with the overall advanced style of the Sea Mist.

Tirian came to this mirror and looked at his own reflection in it, looking a bit hesitant.

Quickly, however, he casts that hesitation aside and reaches into a drawer and removes the carved candlestick used for the ceremony and places it in front of the mirror.

“Sea Mist to Lost Country ……” Tirian cooed softly, feeling for the moment like one of those seafarers compelled into madness by a vision on the infinite sea, offering a sacrifice in the final moments of their madness to call upon the horrors in the dark depths of darkness –And it seemed that the truth was not far from the truth, what he was going to call upon was really the most frightening and terrifying power of this sea.

Only that power happens to be his father.

The candlestick lit itself, a bright flame leaping above the candle, the light reflecting in the mirror, and Tirian watched the tiny flame a little nervously, seeing it jump a few times, and then quickly tinted with an ethereal green color, and knowing that his call had been answered without incident.

The oval mirror was quickly tinted with flame, and the center of the mirror became black as ink, as Tirion’s own figure disappeared from the mirror, and a moment later another figure emerged from it – that of Duncan himself, who had stayed on board the Lost Country.

Duncan was holding a piece of bread in his hand as he looked up and glanced this way in the mirror, “I was just about to have lunch – have you eaten?”

“Uh …… not yet.” Tirion froze for a moment and replied with some discomfort – for some reason, his father seemed to have changed in some quiet way since he had found his humanity, and his greeting seemed so different, and the good news was that this greeting was actually very cordial and friendly, but it had been too long since Tirion had spoken so naturally with his father, and he still felt distinctly awkward.

“You should be on time for lunch, it’s good for your health,” Duncan said casually, “What is it you wanted to see me about?”

“We’ve searched the entire sea around Dagger Island and haven’t found anything,” Tirion settled down and returned his attention to business, “The Frosts are still persisting in their search, but I think they’ll be in vain as well.”

“The deep sea swallowed that island, the root of the problem is underwater, there’s no point in searching on the surface – and the biggest problem right now is that we don’t have the proper diving equipment,” Duncan shook his head, “Also, the city is now tense, and the Church side will soon extend their search to the second waterway – don’t worry, I’ve already sent warnings to your informants.”

Tirian subconsciously tensed when he heard that the church was going to search the second waterway, but he was relieved when he heard the second half of Duncan’s sentence, and then he frowned immediately after, “They suspect that the heretic lair in the city is hidden in the second waterway?”

“After all, the entire city-state beyond that has been rummaged through by them,” Duncan raised his eyes, “They have no more to think of except the Second Waterway.”

Tirion frowned in silence and Duncan saw this and asked, “Why, what do you have in mind?”

“…… I don’t think they’ll be able to find a clue in the second waterway,” Tirian shook his head slowly, “While my informants don’t control the entire second waterway, at least they’re familiar with what’s going on down there and have control of a A few key nodes, if there really is a large group of Annihilationists hiding down there and holding a large ceremony down there …… I should have gotten wind of it.”

“Maybe they’re hiding really well, or maybe the rituals they’re holding have distorted the perceptions of all the informants who’ve noticed the commotion – either they haven’t found it, or if they do, they’ll be contaminated, which leads to you not receiving the correct information.”

Tirion nodded slowly, “…… That is indeed an explanation, after all you have confirmed the existence of cognitive contamination within the city-state.”

“I’ll keep an eye on the Second Waterway as well,” said Duncan in the mirror, “I’m also curious as to where the Annihilationists are hiding – if this process finds your people in trouble, I’ll try to assist. ”

“Thank you very much.” Tirion said immediately, bowing his head.

Just then, a sudden knock on the door interrupted the conversation in the captain’s chamber.

“Someone’s here to see you,” Duncan in the mirror noticed the commotion, “If there’s nothing else, go about your business.”

“Yes, Father.”

The figure in the mirror faded, the flames at the edges of the flaming mirror dispersed, and the candlestick in front of the mirror faded back to its original state.

Tirian breathed a soft sigh of relief, feeling the pressure fade in his mind, then frowned and got up to open the door to his room, “What’s going on?” “A fast ship from the Frost,” an undead sailor with a hole in his head stood outside the door, saluting as he did so, “They’re flying ‘non-force action’ and ‘requesting contact’ flags and lights. ‘ flags and light signals as they leaned over, as if they were a group of …… emissaries.”

“Emissaries?” Tirian was surprised and stunned for a moment, but soon, an expression of interest appeared on his face, “That’s kind of interesting …… they’re really sitting still.”

“Fire?” The sailor looked at his captain rather expectantly.

“Fire my ass – get them over here,” Tirian glared at the sailor, adding immediately afterward, “Only three will be allowed to board, if they can’t take it, go back where you came from.”

Aboard the mechanical fast ship flying the flag of the Frost City-State, a man in a proper tuxedo and gold-rimmed glasses stood on the bow deck, taking down his eyes and wiping them again and again with some nervousness while looking up at the steel battleship that was zooming in and out of his field of vision.

The Sea Mist was getting closer and closer, its high bow was like a mountain floating on the sea of ice, the oppressive feeling it brought was getting stronger and stronger, and on the surrounding sea surface, fine floating ice floes floated and swam in the seawater as if it was some kind of living thing, even spinning consciously around the hull of the Mechanical Express, and constantly bumping into the hull of the ship near the waterline.

The cracking sound of the broken ice actively hitting the ship’s hull sounded distracting and nerve-wracking.

The machine secretary couldn’t help but wipe her own eyes again, but her mind couldn’t help but conjure up the stories that had been passed down by word of mouth in the Frost City-States – all of which centered around curses on the outer seas, great pirates in the fog, sailors frozen into ice sculptures in their sleep, and a meal of a small child.

“We’re close enough,” the machine secretary said to the accompanying officer beside him as he put his gold-rimmed spectacles back on and took a soft breath, “Let’s stop at this distance – any further and it’s time for that battleship to open fire. ”

“Lowest speed, left rudder!” The accompanying officer turned his head and commanded the summoning sailor in a loud voice.

The mechanical fast ship’s speed dropped at once, and slightly adjusted its bow facing so that it was a little bit parallel to the massive steel warship.

At the same time, the accompanying officer paid attention to the movements on the Sea Mist again.

He saw flashing lights suddenly appear on that battleship, and then another sailor appeared on the side of the ship, waving a flag in the direction of the Mechanical Express.

“They’re signaling,” the machine secretary inquired hurriedly, “what does it mean?”

“The Sea Mist has accepted our request …… Thank God, this time it’s a signal that the living can read,” said the accompanying officer, visibly relieved, and the next thing he knew, he saw another small boat lowered down the side of that warship, “and they’ve lowered the small boat for transferring personnel.”

“Death’s God Blessed …… I thought they were going to just open fire.” The secretary was also visibly relieved, as the first “emissary” sent to negotiate with the Sea Mist Fleet, even though he was mentally prepared to do his duty for the city-state before arriving, he still felt a sense of gratitude for the aftermath of the disaster.

The small boat sent from the Sea Mist soon arrived beside the Frost People’s mechanical fast ship, on which sat a few undead sailors dressed in the uniforms of the old-time navy.

The prominent Queen’s emblem on their arms and the uniform that represented the previous era stood out, and what blinked even more than that outfit was their honor as Immortals.

Two of them, with large holes in their heads, another, through and through their chests, and the only one who appeared to have little trauma – but was swollen and ghastly like a corpse that had been soaking in seawater for three days.

The Frost sailors on the Mechanical Express were a bit nervous at the sight of these undead sailors, and after watching them step onto the Frost vessel, many of them revealed complicated gazes.

But the undead obviously didn’t care what attitude these living people had, they just walked straight towards the person who looked to have the highest rank on the scene.

“Who is the messenger?”

“It’s me,” the man with the gold-rimmed glasses and short tuxedo immediately stepped forward, controlling the nervousness in his mind, and again controlling his eyes to try not to gaze too much at the ghastly features on the several undead sailors, and trying to speak in a calm tone of voice, “My name is Eddie Rule, and I’ve come on behalf of the Frost City State to talk to the Sea Mist Fleet.”

“A clerk?” The swollen-bodied undead sailor frowned and shot a glance at the machine secretary who called himself Eddie, a flirtatious tone in his voice, “I would have thought that you would have sent at least a couple of military representatives – can’t you find a few soldiers with enough guts in the Frost Navy nowadays?”

The officer accompanying him immediately took a half step forward, but before he could speak, Eddie held out his hand to stop him.

“I am the messenger,” the civilian officer with the gold-rimmed glasses looked at the undead sailor in front of him and emphasized, “Take me to Admiral Tirian.”

(End of chapter)